Watched states don't sync reliably with server for Downloaded media

[Modify3453 2]

I have a local only server, and my android device reconnects daily to the same network, but syncing does not start automatically and watched states are not synced with the server, except on random occasions that I don't quite understand.

I have to navigate into the server settings from the android device and manually start the Convert media and Transfer media tasks, which 'works' but only if the Android client sent the watched states to the server.

I know about the two locations to manage downloads on android:

• The lower middle Downloads button on the home screen that lets you navigate into TV or Movies and play them
• The gear icon next to a Downloads row on the home screen which lets you see conversion progress and manage downloads

I have used Plex Downloads for a long time and it worked great but their recent Android overhaul completely broke the basic functionality (automatically downloading N episodes, and refreshing on reconnect). Emby Downloads playback is overall a better experience except for this syncing issue.

So, in short, there is a problem with the Emby Android app syncing watched states for Downloaded episodes. If the server gets that sync data, that episode is deleted locally, and the next unwatched episode is Converted and Downloaded when scheduled. I have not found any scheduled task which activates syncing watched statuses from Android > Server.

To get Emby Downloads to work I have to:

• Reconnect to the servers network after watching episodes elsewhere
• Connect back to the server in the app using the saved IP config
• Manually mark each episode that was watched on Android as a watched episode on the Server
• Manually delete the downloaded watched episodes on Android
• Manually trigger the Conversion task through server settings

Server Version 4.8.11.0
Android Version: 3.4.67

Other info if it matters:

• I have the android client go into airplane mode every night
• I am not using Emby Connect so direct IP connection and no communications with the server while away from the servers LAN
• The success rate of syncing watched status with the server is roughly 20% (2-3 out of every 8-10 watched episodes sync watch states)

[Modify3453 2]

A couple other posts of the same issue with no clear resolution:

[Modify3453 2]

14 hours ago, Modify3453 said:

I have not found any scheduled task which activates syncing watched statuses from Android > Server.

No known way to initiate this:

On 9/16/2022 at 12:09 PM, Luke said:

Tested both android and iOS, and it worked for me, but it's on the next background sync and not immediate.

 

[Modify3453 2]

On 10/16/2021 at 12:11 AM, Luke said:

Hi, we're looking into this. Thanks for reporting.

Was there ever any resolution to this?

I am running into the same issue: 

 

[Modify3453 2]

Was there ever any resolution to this?

I am essentially running into the same issue: 

 

[Modify3453 2]

Another related issue:

 

[Modify3453 2]

Hey, I am running into what appears to be the same issue:

 

[Modify3453 2]

I still have to mark each android watched episode as played manually on the server but I have noticed that after doing that, and going into the Downloads manager to edit and re-save it will then automatically delete the watched episodes and get new ones when on the LAN.

So this process can be shrunk somewhat:

• Reconnect to the servers network after watching episodes elsewhere
• Connect back to the server in the app using the saved IP config
• Manually mark each episode that was watched on Android as a watched episode on the Server
• Manually delete the downloaded watched episodes on Android
• Manually trigger the Conversion task through server settings

To:

• Reconnect to the servers network after watching episodes elsewhere
• Connect back to the server in the app using the saved IP config
• Manually mark each episode that was watched on Android as a watched episode on the Server
• Open and re-save the series Download item (Android)

So, the last two steps are merged into one anyways. The first two remain basically invisible.

[Modify3453 2]

I'm not sure if something changed but I also noticed that if, after watching some downloaded media, I press the back button until Emby exits out completely, and do nothing else, that the server and phone seem to sync properly at some point. It's not 100% but much better than the above process doing it manually.